MOST STUDENTS CAN BE OFFICERS, SAYS SEAVEY

Most College men who are inducted into the Army can earn a commission, it was stated Saturday by Warren A. Seavey, Bussey Professor of Law, who returned last week from a tour of inspection of training camps in the South.

Announcing that he was "highly encouraged" by what he had found, he stressed his conviction that "college men who are willing to learn and who have some capacity for leadership almost certainly will have the ability and the opportunity to become infantry officers."

"While the Army takes no formal notice of a college education in awarding commissions," he explained, "they usually find in college students the ability and the initiative they want. For example, in Fort Benning, Florida, the training camp for infantry officers, at least three-forths of the successful candidates have been to college."

Professor Seavey said further that there are only two handicaps that stand in the way of college men. "The Army dislikes nothing more than men who 'know it all', and it must be admitted that bookish students do not make good officers."

"One of the most encouraging things I found was the change since summer in the number of members being trained as officers. In Fort Benning, the number of men enrolled is expected to be 50 times that of last July."

Explaining the reason for this growth, he said, "until recently, the Army did not have the equipment or the men capable of teaching. Now they have both, and can turn out officers in rapidly increasing numbers."

Fort Benning, he emphasized, is intended to give men in three months, the training they need to educate new officers as well as to serve actively themselves. He stated that he was impressed with the quality and thoroughness of the instruction, and with the rigor with which the potential officers were tested by observation and by the opinions of their fellows.

Professor Seavey also visited Camp Croft, a replacement center in South Carolina where enlisted men are trained before assignment to regular divisions. "I was particularly struck by the excellence of the system of choosing the men who warrant further training and a commission."

Those who apply are carefully watched and are given practice in leading men. Thus, by the time they are accepted by Fort Benning, their actual capacity has been demonstrated and they have had some experience as officers."

As preparation for a commission, Professor Seavey recommended math, scientific courses, and "any course that teaches how to think."

He will speak on this subject in Langdell Hall on the evening of February 24.